Improvement in drop-presses



UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

WILLIAM oLEvEI'IAnDv HICKS, or NEW YoRKfNrY.

IMPROVEMENT IN DaoP-iPaEssEs.

Speciiicationforming part of Letters Patent No. 37,414.5, dated January 20, 1863.

To all whom it 'may concern Y this arrangementl am .enabledalso to adjust Be it known that I, WILLIAM CLEVELAND the ways so as to give them a. perfect iit and.

HICKS, of New York city, in the county and insure accuracy in the operation of theham- State of New York, have invented cert-ain new mer throughout its whole stroke, and Iell'ect and vuseful Improvements in Dro Presses; this by screws F inthe posts and back of the and I do herebyvdeclare the following to be a ways. The posts are s urmounted and laterally full, clear, fand exact description of the same, braced by a headtrame,-G, in which is hung reference being had tothe accompanyingdrawthe winding-shaft H, carrying a loose drum, I, ings, in whichto which is attached one end of the belt, the

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved other end ot' which is fast to the hammer. At apparatus, and Figs. 2, 3, and '4, sectional l `one of its ends they drum is provided with views of the same, according to lines A B, C l, studs a., which engage with a transverse pin,

D, and E F, respectively. b, on the winding-shatt, when the drum', actu- My invention relates to drop-presses or drops ated by the cltch K, is thrown forward. The used in gnnshops', jewelry-shops, and other winding-shaft is connected with some'prime like establishments for working metals by mover by means of a belt passing over an outforging, stamping, or embossing, and in which side pulley or it may derive its motion from the hammer is elevated by means of a belt; l the main shaft of the; establishment, so that and it consists in a method of taking up the when in operation it shall constantly run in belt to prevent t-he rebound of the hammer but onedirection. The wnding-shat'tis geared after'striking the blow; also, in a methodofll with another shaft, L, hung in bearings on nnwinding the hammenbelt as soon as the the posts'by cog-wheels or friction-wheels, or

hammer is raised to the requisite height from by means of a crossing band passing over pulwhich it is allowed to drop. I leys M and N on each shaft, so that the two The natureofmyinvention willbemorefully l Shafts shall run in contrary direction, the understood from the following description of under shaft whichl calltheunwinding-sha-ft, the construction, arrangement, and operation il being so geared as to give it two or more. rev- `of my improved drop hammer or press, to wit: olutious to every one revolution ot' the wind- The general arrangement of my drop is siml ing-shaft.- On the unwiudingshaft there isa ilar to those heretofore in use. The drop is drum, O, the circumference of which reaches composed,aslnsual, of a base, A, denominated or nearly reaches the centerof the drop. 0u the anvil, and of ahaanmer,B,either or both the other side of the posts, and at the same of which have' secured in suitable correspondelevation as the nnwindingshaft, 'there is an ing beds or sockets dies constituting the axle carrying a drum, 1, which presses on counterpart of the piece which is to be prothe belt with an elastic pressure derived from duced orformed by the action of the hammer the springs Q, bearing on the axle andholding on 'the anvil. The hammer in its up-andit in open journal boxes or recesses, which down motion is guided by means of ways C, may be wrought direct-ly in the posts. 'lhe secured in upright posts D, which are let and clutch which operates the drum by sliding it held in the anvil by .mortise-and-tenon joint. along and upon the windin g-shaft from-right The ways,it will be seen,a re independent and to'left, and vice versa, is actuated by a rod, separate from the posts, the latter ybeing R, connected therewith and descending to the grooved or slotted on their inner faces for the anvil on the side of the right hand post. The reception of ways, whichv are let into the l rod in its turn is moved up by a dog, S, atgrooves or slots and held therein by lateral l, tached to the hammer, striking in its upward pressure elected by means of bolts E,pas'sing l movement a collar orI stud, e, on the rod. It through both the .postsand the ways. When is brought down again by a vspring or by its these bolts are screwed up tight, the rigidity own-weight, just below the dog, when at the of the ways will not only prevent them from end of its strokei. e., after having lifted the moving, -but will eft'ectually counteract the clutch-operating rod. There is a catch or' trigjars attending the operation of the drop. By ger, T, pivoted to the left-hand post, whose gravity and to ship the clutch and drum and Aon ythe left-hand trigger. Now, on my img clutch disengages the drum,and while thel sion utntil released by the foot `or hand of the 'hammer stillrests 'on the catch or trigger, opera or.

Drops were heretofore madewith anvil, winding-shaft, winding-drum, and clutch and trigger to hold up the hammer and rod whichl operates the clutch or shipper, and the -hammer-belt was wound up substantially as hereinbeforc indicated, thev operation being as follows: The hammer being wound up and held in suspension, thev operator placesthe piece of metal to be shaped, stamped, or embossed on the die in the anvilJ He then pulls the trigger with his foot or hand, the hammer falls,and the forging is formed. In such machilies the dog on the right hand side of the hammerstrikes, on descending, a cam on or bend in the rod and slides it ofta step which held it up. It is thus allowed to drop by 'its function" it is to hold the hammer in suspen-l .the unwinding-drums to unwind the hammeris,- the unwinding-drums cause the lbelt'to hang perpendicularly from the winding-drum, so that the same length is always left to-be wound up by the machinery. N ow, ifthe hammer be tum of the weight multiplied with the velocity ot' the hammer, which the ways being clean) is always precisely thsme. Now,thespeed at which the hammer is raised is very much less than that ofthe hammer falling, (practically about one'half,) and the use of the bound v being about equal in speed to the speed at cause the belt to be we uud up until the dog on the hammer again strikes the collar on the rod and again moves the rod up and the drum away'from its connection with the shaft, whereby the winding up, and consequently the ascent of the hammer, is stopped. The trigger on the left post then takes the' ham ,mer and holds it ready foranother-blow. y1 3 this arrangement it will be seen that when the hammercommences to fall it must unwind the belt by its own weight, which checks the speed of the hammer, whereby the Vforce of the blow is greatly reduced. Again, when the hammer reaches the cam outhe clutch. rod, as abovereferred to, it necessarilystrikes it a blow, and as the dog must be cn'either oneor thecthersideitprodueesatendency tobind the hammer in the ways,which checks the blow and cocks the hammer up so that`thel blow is not quite square. The blow also tends to break the dog and the rod. But the most serious objection consists in that when the dog, in strik.. ing the cam just before the hammer strikes the anvil, ships the rod and clutch the belt commences to wind up, with4out,however, preventing the hammer from bounding on the die or anvilonce or twice. This often spoils' the work, injures the dies, and causes great expense. N ow, my improvements have partly for their object to remedy these defects, and I have accomplished it by theem ployment of unwinding-rollers, hereinbefore described,v to

elongating the hammer-belt (say four inches to a six-foot fall) the hammer bound may be taken up if the winding up becommenced to fall. I

In the accompanying: drawings I-` have shown the apparatus arranged to operate in accordance with the principles--of my inventiou. l The clutch, it wi-ll be seen, connects the drum with the shaft the very moment the hammer commences to fall, so that the belt is being lwound up while the hammer is falling. .lo effect this, it was important to rebends, &c.-'on the rod near the anvil. and te so arrange the-clutch and rod as to allow the latter to hang from the end of the shippingclutch' all the time, except when the hammer is being raised and when the drum is thrown out of gear withthe winding-shaft. In other words,` the drum should remain connected with the winding-shaft, except when the hammer is at rest on the trigger. By this arleased and allowedto` drop,` and when the blow is struck the quantity of belt fed out is just suicient to allow of the blow being effected .without loss of power, and the amount of belt taken up at` the same time is such as that, if'the rebound takes place, the belt-fed out after the rebound shall be insufficient to allowit to strike a second blow on theanvil.

Having thus described 'my improvements in drop-presses and the manner in which the same are or may be carried Y,into effect, I would observe that I do not confine myself to the preciseu construction and arrangement of parts as hereinbefore described, and'shown in the accompany-ing drawings, it being ob: vions that the apparatus is susceptible of modifications without departure from the principlesof. my invention.

' What'I therefore claim as my-inventionisin the mnner as follows: Suppose theham mer to have reached the collar on the `:lutchrod and has vthrown the drumr out of gear with the windingshaft, the hammerrests then proved drop the hammer-belt runs between. two drums,one of which is driven in a direchammer rising the little belt which drives this unwindingshaft slips and the drums all turn the same way; ybut the moment the ethe littlevcross-band takes eli' etaud causes belt and leave the hammer free to falLwithout hinderance from the belt. This draws the ,Y belt into the same position every timethat the extremity of the blo'w. I found that by simultaneously with the hammer commencing move alll intervening obstacles-such as cams,

1. The method of -unwinding the hammerbelt; immediately npon its reaching the requisite elevation by the employment, in combination with the ordinary Winding-drum, shipping-clutch, and appurtenances, o f auxiliary friction rolls or drums, the'wholebeing arra'nged to operate substantially in t-he manner and for the purposes set forth. A

2. Preventing the hammer from rebounding by the means and in the manner hereinbefore described, or in any other'manner substantially the same.

In testimony whereof I haveslgned my name' to this sp'ecieationnbefore two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

A. PoLLAK, yWM. H. HARRISON.

WM. CLEVELAND HICKS. 

